Thomas Newman | |
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 Newman at 2010Classic Brit Awards | |
| Born | Thomas Montgomery Newman (1955-10-20)October 20, 1955 (age 70) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
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| Children | 3 |
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Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an Americancomposer, conductor, and orchestrator. He is best known for hisfilm scores, earning accolades of sixGrammy Awards, anEmmy Award, twoBAFTA Film Awards, and 15Academy Award nominations.
In a career that has spanned over four decades, he has scored numerous films includingThe Player (1992),The Shawshank Redemption (1994),Meet Joe Black (1998),American Beauty andThe Green Mile (both 1999),Pay It Forward (2000),In the Bedroom (2001),Road to Perdition andWhite Oleander (both 2002),Finding Nemo (2003) and its sequelFinding Dory (2016),Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004),Cinderella Man (2005),WALL-E (2008), theJames Bond filmsSkyfall (2012) andSpectre (2015),Bridge of Spies (2015),1917 (2019), andElemental (2023).
In television, Newman has composed music for theHBO drama seriesSix Feet Under (2001), the 2003 miniseriesAngels in America, as well as theNetflix biographical crime dramaMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024). In the lattermost, he co-composed with his daughter Julia Newman. He has collaborated with directors such asRobert Altman,Jon Avnet,Martin Brest,Frank Darabont,Todd Field,John Lee Hancock,John Madden,Sam Mendes,Andrew Stanton, andSteven Soderbergh.
Born in Los Angeles, Thomas Montgomery Newman[citation needed] is the youngest son of composerAlfred Newman (1900–1970), who won theAcademy Award for Best Original Score nine times, and Martha Louis Montgomery (1920–2005). He is a member of a film-scoring dynasty inHollywood that includes his father Alfred, older brotherDavid Newman, younger sisterMaria Newman, unclesLionel Newman andEmil Newman, cousinRandy Newman, and hisfirst cousin once removed,Joey Newman. His paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants,[1] and his mother was from Mississippi.[citation needed]
During their upbringing, Martha Newman took her sons to violin lessons in theSan Fernando Valley every weekend.[2]
Newman later studied composition and orchestration for two years at theUniversity of Southern California,[3] before transferring toYale University, where he graduated with aBachelor of Arts in 1977 and aMaster of Music in 1978.[4] While at Yale, he met composerStephen Sondheim, who became an early mentor.[2]
At first, Newman was more interested inmusical theater than in film composition, working with Sondheim inBroadway plays.[5] Lionel, who succeeded Alfred as music director for20th Century Fox, gave Thomas his first scoring assignment on a 1979 episode of the seriesThe Paper Chase.[6] In 1983,John Williams, who was a friend of both Alfred and Lionel, invited Newman to work onReturn of the Jedi, orchestrating the scene in whichDarth Vader dies.[7] Afterward Newman met producerScott Rudin in New York City and Rudin invited him to compose the score forReckless (1984). Newman said that he thought "it was a tough job, at first" for requiring him to "develop vocabularies and a sense of procedure", only getting comfortable with writing scores "and not fraudulent in my efforts" after eight years.[8] In 1992, Newman composed the scores forThe Player andScent of a Woman.
In 1994, he received his first Academy Award nominations with the scores forThe Shawshank Redemption andLittle Women.[5] He also scoredThe War. In 1996, he scoredUnstrung Heroes, receiving yet another Oscar nomination. In 1998, he scoredThe Horse Whisperer as well asMeet Joe Black. In 1999, Newman composed the score toAmerican Beauty, created using mainly percussion instruments; this was the first of several collaborations with directorSam Mendes. Newman believed the score helped move the film along without disturbing the "moral ambiguity" of the script, saying "It was a real delicate balancing act in terms of what music worked to preserve that.".[9] He received a fourth Oscar nomination for this score, and although he lost again (toJohn Corigliano forThe Red Violin), he did receive aGrammy and aBAFTA.
His critical and commercial success continued in the years to follow, which included scores for films directed by celebrated independent filmmakers such asSteven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich), andTodd Field (In the Bedroom). He was nominated consecutively for a further three Academy Awards, forRoad to Perdition (2002; his second collaboration with Sam Mendes),Finding Nemo (2003), andLemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). However, he lost on each occasion, toElliot Goldenthal (forFrida),Howard Shore (forThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), andJan A. P. Kaczmarek (forFinding Neverland).
In 2006, he teamed once again with Todd Field forLittle Children and Steven Soderbergh forThe Good German (and was nominated for latter). At the Oscar ceremony, he appeared in the opening segment byErrol Morris, who jokingly stated that Newman had been nominated for and failed to win an Oscar eight times. Newman replied: "No, I've failed seven but this will be my eighth", and indeed, he again lost, this time toGustavo Santaolalla forBabel.
His first score sinceThe Good German was forTowelhead. In 2008, he scored the animated filmWALL-E, collaborating for the second time with directorAndrew Stanton (with the first collaboration beingFinding Nemo). The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (as hadNemo). Newman received two Oscar nominations: one for Best Original Score, and another for Best Original Song for "Down to Earth", which he co-wrote withPeter Gabriel. He was nominated in the Original Score category with two other veteran composers,James Newton Howard andDanny Elfman, both of whom have also been nominated for several Oscars but each time unsuccessfully. Newman lost both the score and song nominations toA. R. Rahman for his work onSlumdog Millionaire. He and Peter Gabriel did however win a Grammy for "Down to Earth".
In 2008, he also scoredRevolutionary Road, a further collaboration with Mendes. In 2009, he scoredBrothers (the remake of theSusanne Bier film). In 2011, he scoredThe Help,The Debt,The Iron Lady, andThe Adjustment Bureau.[10]
In 2012, Newman scoredThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a second collaboration withJohn Madden afterThe Debt. He also scored the 23rd James Bond movieSkyfall, released on the film franchise's 50th anniversary.[11] His work on this film earned him his eleventh Oscar nomination and a second BAFTA win. During 2013, he scoredSide Effects (working again with director Steven Soderbergh) andSaving Mr. Banks. The latter score was very well received by film music critics, earning Newman BAFTA and Oscar nominations for the second consecutive year, both of which he lost toSteven Price forGravity.
Newman's 2014 projects includedThe Judge andGet on Up. In 2015, he scoredThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, marking the first time Newman has scored a sequel to a film he also wrote the score for.[12] Also that year, Newman returned to score the 24th James Bond movieSpectre, the sequel toSkyfall and a continuation of his longtime collaboration with Sam Mendes. He also worked withSteven Spielberg forBridge of Spies, marking Newman's first collaboration with Spielberg and the first Spielberg film not to feature a musical score from his long-time composer John Williams, since the production ofThe Color Purple in 1985. For his score onBridge of Spies, Newman garnered additional Oscar and Grammy nominations.
In 2016, Newman scoredPassengers, for which he received his 14th Oscar nomination. Three years later, Newman reunited with Sam Mendes for his war film1917, for which Newman received his 6th BAFTA and 15th Oscar nominations.
Newman likes to vary the instrumentation in his scores, ranging from full orchestra to percussion-only music. He is also fond of incorporating unusual instruments such as thezither,hurdy-gurdy,psaltery andhammered dulcimer,[6] or unexpected sounds, likeAboriginal chants and the chirping ofcicadas. The composer declared that he has "an interest in mundane experimentation."[5]
Newman has been nominated for fifteenAcademy Awards, tying him with fellow composerAlex North for the most nominations without a win. He has also been nominated for fourGolden Globes, and has won twoBAFTAs, sixGrammys and anEmmy Award. Newman was honored with the Richard Kirk award at the 2000BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.[6] His achievements have contributed to the Newmans being themost nominated Academy Award extended family, with a collective 92 nominations in various music categories.
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